Commenting as a reproductive genetic counselor with firsthand experience counseling patients undergoing fertility treatments — CRISPR won't likely lead to extensive cosmetic or enhancement purposes given these traits are often polygenic and would involve altering many genes across the genome, many of which we don't understand fully. CRISPR is mostly good for specific target edits (good for single gene disorders like hereditary vision loss), not for common polygenic traits.
Instead, embryo selection, not gene editing, is what we should be more cognizant/wary of. By 2049, it's probably feasible for future parents to "roll the dice" and simulate 10,000 potential outcomes of what their child will have predispositions towards. They can choose to implant the embryo that most aligns with their desired outcomes.
This is a complex/nuanced topic that I feel few understand — it's much more than just whether we can make designer babies or not. Perhaps a topic for a future post on my newsletter :)
Commenting as a reproductive genetic counselor with firsthand experience counseling patients undergoing fertility treatments — CRISPR won't likely lead to extensive cosmetic or enhancement purposes given these traits are often polygenic and would involve altering many genes across the genome, many of which we don't understand fully. CRISPR is mostly good for specific target edits (good for single gene disorders like hereditary vision loss), not for common polygenic traits.
Instead, embryo selection, not gene editing, is what we should be more cognizant/wary of. By 2049, it's probably feasible for future parents to "roll the dice" and simulate 10,000 potential outcomes of what their child will have predispositions towards. They can choose to implant the embryo that most aligns with their desired outcomes.
This is a complex/nuanced topic that I feel few understand — it's much more than just whether we can make designer babies or not. Perhaps a topic for a future post on my newsletter :)